JCarpenter
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, Fr2022
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Who exactly are you trying to encourage? Is it someone in your family, or youth in general.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging. I wish I had the collective of pilgrims past in the room. They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones. Even if we offered a scholarship to Spain, their assessment was that we would have a difficult time getting youth to go. Have any of you have a similar experiences with family, or other teens you know? Any luck understanding its true origins, or what will entice youth to go? We live in the Pacific Northwest where outdoor activity is normally within the culture.
Any youth.Who exactly are you trying to encourage? Is it someone in your family, or youth in general.
My friend @Oregon's Mark has had a couple of different experiences with grandchildren on the Camino, maybe he'll see this and share what he did to convince his grandchildren.
We took our grandson (13) who absolutely jumped at the opportunity, and loved every minute. The granddaughter (14) who we also asked, said no when she found she would have to walk.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging. I wish I had the collective of pilgrims past in the room. They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones. Even if we offered a scholarship to Spain, their assessment was that we would have a difficult time getting youth to go. Have any of you have a similar experiences with family, or other teens you know? Any luck understanding its true origins, or what will entice youth to go? We live in the Pacific Northwest where outdoor activity is normally within the culture.
Maybe you could get traction through reaching out to the middle school or high school Foreign Language Club? You’d be starting with kids interested in learning and sharing other languages / cultures with their peers, so that’s an auspicious start.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging.
I would just add, you invite someone their age (or closer to their age) who has done the Camino and enjoyed it to talk about it and answer questions. Their perspective would be different from the older hikers.Who are you trying to convince to walk Camino? Members of your congregation and their children?
I would arrange an afternoon/evening to discuss Camino, maybe show a film about it or a slide show of pictures to provide a visual context and discuss the history of pilgrimage and the history of the Camino in particular. Having someone who has walked Camino talk about their experience and answer questions could help drive some interest. From there I would arrange a weekly local hike with the first few people interested to get them used to the idea of walking and hopefully from there more people will show interest.
There's a gentleman on YouTube that takes a group of students every summer, perhaps reach out to him for a conversation about how to get more youth interested. https://www.youtube.com/c/CaminoGuide Or reach out to your broader church network on how to do so.
THIS is exactly what I was going to say. Teens are not going to listen to adults saying this is a good thing for them. They WILL listen to the experiences of other teens.Peers! peers, peers! Adolescents need to sell it to their friends.
I have been doing Caminos for ten years. In the early days, I was enthusiastic about encouraging people to do a Camino. My encouragement, or nowadays lack thereof, has changed dramatically over the years.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging. I wish I had the collective of pilgrims past in the room. They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones. Even if we offered a scholarship to Spain, their assessment was that we would have a difficult time getting youth to go. Have any of you have a similar experiences with family, or other teens you know? Any luck understanding its true origins, or what will entice youth to go? We live in the Pacific Northwest where outdoor activity is normally within the culture.
I can't help you with teens but I can tell you of my experience this year and perhaps it will give you some hope. When I walked my first Camino my granddaughter was not even a year old. I gave her my shell when I finished. A few years later my second granddaughter then aged 4 asked where her shell was. so off I went again and they came out to Santiago to meet me, They loved the week that they spent there. Twice more for me on the Camino and then had to cancel in October 2021 due to family bereavement so left planning for this year. At Christmas my daughter asked when you walk next year can the girls meet you again and walk a couple of days with you? They are now 10 and 7. I asked if I trained them could they walk 10k a day for 10 days and they could obtain a Compostela of their own. We started at Morgade 29th May and arrived in SDC 7th June. They carried their own packs and walked every step. My son-in-law came with us. 3 generations on the Camino. My daughter stayed at home with the 2 year old. For us all it was the experience of a lifetime with wonderful memories. They were given time off school to experience the culture (not Disneyland Paris as the head teacher put it). The girls now tell everyone that as soon as they are old enough they are going to bring their friends and walk the whole way just like grandad. Don't give up hope.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging. I wish I had the collective of pilgrims past in the room. They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones. Even if we offered a scholarship to Spain, their assessment was that we would have a difficult time getting youth to go. Have any of you have a similar experiences with family, or other teens you know? Any luck understanding its true origins, or what will entice youth to go? We live in the Pacific Northwest where outdoor activity is normally within the culture.
I just hiked the CF with my 12-year-old twins. They both had quite a bit of anxiety about being in crowds, for example at albergues or on public transportation. They also didn’t love that we had limited access to wifi. What helped them was knowing that we’d have some time each day to connect to wifi at pilgrims bars and be in touch with friends back home as well as quiet time when we didn’t have to talk with each other and could listen to a book or rest or whatnot.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging. I wish I had the collective of pilgrims past in the room. They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones. Even if we offered a scholarship to Spain, their assessment was that we would have a difficult time getting youth to go. Have any of you have a similar experiences with family, or other teens you know? Any luck understanding its true origins, or what will entice youth to go? We live in the Pacific Northwest where outdoor activity is normally within the culture.
I would almost disappointed if my children had wanted to do the Camino in their teens! Europe = Great cities, bars, clubs, concerts, sophisticated attractive people, potential romance and so on. They can do the Camino when they get much older if they so wish!I'm not sure that this is a problem to be solved.
You can expose people to the Camino and some will be excited about the idea while others won't, regardless of age. I don't see why any group should be "encouraged" or pushed to walk the Camino.
I was wondering the same thing. My son and all of his friends were soooo sick of not having in-person social contacts that they would have gone in an instant once it was allowed (post Covid, if there is such a thing). Even now, they all seem to dread the possibility of such confinement again, should it be required.I am wondering.......your pastor and youth pastor are unenthusiastic.....BUT have you spoken to the young people themselves? What do they say? Maybe you will be a catalyst to rekindle the outdoor connection....
Kids and their phones are a problem in many aspects of our lives. Ask any teacher what phones do to their day. Parents have relinquished much control of their children to cell phones. The only way to solve today's problems with cell phones is for parents to take charge. The same is true of video games. Both the use of the phone and video games are addictive. Many adults are also addicted to their phones.I had a meeting with our pastor and youth pastor this morning that was quite discouraging. I wish I had the collective of pilgrims past in the room. They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones. Even if we offered a scholarship to Spain, their assessment was that we would have a difficult time getting youth to go. Have any of you have a similar experiences with family, or other teens you know? Any luck understanding its true origins, or what will entice youth to go? We live in the Pacific Northwest where outdoor activity is normally within the culture.
I was late to work, so I pulled into a café parking lot instead of driving into the college campus. Son says "you expect me to walk all the way to school?" Me: "No, I expect you to cross the street and get on the FREE bus that will take you the two blocks to school!"They both described the post COVID experience of getting youth out of the house. Parents, but especially teens are reluctant to go out and meet with friends because they can do all the "socializing" from their homes through their phones.
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